Canadian tariffs list targets US politicians as label dispute continues

Canada’s list of U.S. imports that could face retaliatory tariffs is specifically designed to increase political pressure on U.S. agriculture officials and force them to change mandatory country of origin labeling rules, the agriculture minister said Friday.

“The whole point of this is to put enough political pressure on the administration in the United States to take this seriously… to fix this in a way that they should, sooner rather later,” said Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz.

The list contains 38 products, ranging from frozen and fresh beef and pork, to apples, cherries, pasta, chocolate and ketchup. It is designed to be as comprehensive as possible, the minister said, but admitted some of the country’s allies have been targeted.

“We have allies in the meat sector in the U.S., [but] you know you have to go there of course,” he explained. “You hate to, because they’re your allies, but you have to be pragmatic as well.”

The government of Mexico will also be releasing a list of potential retaliatory tariffs, he said.

The situation could have been avoided if the U.S. had complied with WTO’s July 2012 order to amend the legislation by May 23, Rizt emphasized.

“[Retaliatory tariffs are] by no means our preferred course of action, but we will continue to stand with Canadian cattle and hog producers against mandatory country of origin labeling,” he said.

U.S. mandatory country of origin labeling (COOL) requires producers and processors to identify where an animal was born, raised and slaughtered. The U.S Department of Agriculture insists the system — first imposed in 2008 — was designed to help consumers make informed decisions about food choices.

Canadian and Mexican beef and pork producers disagree, arguing the rules are discriminatory against out of country meat imports and violate international trade agreements.

Since 2008, the Canadian Cattleman’s Association estimates they’ve lost $640 million annually because of COOL, with similar losses in pork- approximately $500 million per year – the Canadian Pork Council said Friday.

With such high losses, Dave Solverson, a cattle producer from Canmore, Alta and the Vice-President for the Canadian Cattleman’s Association, said Friday, the U.S. must be held to account.

“I know this decision is not made lightly,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that Canada has to take this step, but somebody has to ensure that the U.S. lives up to its WTO obligations.”

“Cattle producers cannot continue to sustain these loses,” he said.

However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture insists they have complied with the WTO’s order after new amendments to COOL were put forward in March. Canada and Mexico have said these changes, which took effect in April, are even worse than the initial legislation, a position Ritz reiterated Friday.

“The proposed fix adds to the discrimination,” he said. “Both Canada and Mexico, as well as our counterparts in the American industry, believe these changes will increase discrimination against Canadian cattle and hogs.”

Retaliatory tariffs must be approved by the WTO, a process that could take as long as 18 to 24 months.